In this Nov. 18, 2012 file photo, Justin Bieber performs at the 40th Anniversary American Music Awards, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Shearer/Invision/AP, File)

(Newser)
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One of the downfalls of being an international pop star beloved by tweens everywhere: Sometimes you end up the target of two would-be assassins hired by a convicted killer to murder you. That's what happened to Justin Bieber, police say. CBC News and the Toronto Star have details of the bizarre plot:

Dana Martin, 45, was both the mastermind and the person who alerted police to the plot. He says he hired New Mexico men Mark Staake, 41, and Staake's nephew, Tanner Ruane, 23, to kill four people. Staake and Ruane were arrested late last month, but authorities just discovered Bieber may have been a target.

Martin wanted all four of the victims, which were to include both Bieber and his bodyguard, strangled with a paisley tie.

Martin is currently in state prison for murder; he killed his victims in a similar fashion.

Martin wanted two of the victims castrated, and was willing to pay $2,500 per testicle, but Bieber is not believed to be one of those he wanted castrated.

Martin was obsessed with the singer, having written him letters and gotten a Bieber tattoo on his leg. He got upset when Bieber never responded to him.

If the whole thing sounds like a macabre publicity stunt, there's reason for that. Martin told police "he was seeking a measure of notoriety so that there would be people outside of prison who would know who he ... was."

Oh, and he had nothing to lose: He's serving a sentence of 988 years and change.